6 3DS games I'm looking forward to playing at some point in 2016

Along with the pile of 3DS games mentioned in my recent pair of "5 games I bought in 2015 that I've regrettably (and embarrassingly) failed to play" posts, I'm also looking forward to playing at some point in 2016:

Bravely Second--I know a lot of people hated Bravely Default, and I mostly understand why that is. Personally, though, I loved the game. Yes, it had its shortcomings--chief among them, for me at least, being its annoying chattiness--but the rest of it was so sublime It wasn't hard for me to overlook the ugly bits. I've heard that this oddly named sequel has its own share of pitfalls, but I'm determined to buy and play it anyway. I mean, there's no chance Bravely Second's negatives will be anywhere near as bad as Default's, right?

Dragon Quest VII--I've wanted to play through the original PlayStation iteration of the game ever since I quite literally wrenched myself away from my beloved copy of Dragon Quest IX. What's kept me from starting that predecessor? The astronomical pricetags usually attached to complete versions of Dragon Quest VII is one. Another is that VII's supposed to be  a real time sink. Thankfully, this 3DS remake addresses both if those problems (in a way), as launch copies should be $50 or even $40, tops, and the length issue will be less of a worry due to its portability. In other words, this sucker can't be released too soon, as far as I'm concerned.

Final Fantasy Explorers--I'm kind of baffled that I decided to pre-order the North American version of this Final Fantasy offshoot, to tell you the truth. I downloaded and played the game's Japanese demo shortly after it was made available in late 2014 and walked away from it feeling ambivalent. On the one hand, Explorers looks a bit rough. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me at all if someone revealed that the game began life as a DS game before being ported to the 3DS. I also don't much care for the odd aesthetics of this title's character models. On the other hand, I thought Explorers' real-time gameplay was at least competent, and I'm strangely attracted to adventures that focus on completing quests these days. At any rate, I'm not going to cancel my pre-order now, so hopefully the positives outweigh the negatives once I finally plug this cart into my trusty 3DS.

Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest--Of course I went with the version of Fates that will allow my male protagonist to woo one of the game's muscle-bound brutes, right? The question is: will that be enough for me to spend more time with Conquest than I did with Awakening? (Last time I looked, I'd put just under eight hours into the 3DS' first Fire Emblem title.) I don't know, but I sure hope it will, as I really enjoyed what I experienced of Awakening.

Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale--The PopoloCrois (or PoPoLoCrois, if you're a Japanophile) series has intrigued me since I became aware of its first entry, a PlayStation game. That RPG--as well as its sequel and roguelike spin-off, both of which also were PSone titles--featured some of the loveliest sprite-based visuals you're ever going to see in a video game. Sadly, developer Epics veered away from that aesthetic for this curious mash-up, which combines PopoloCrois' setting and turn-based battles with some of Harvest Moon's--I mean A Story of Seasons'--farming-focused gameplay. Oh, well, at least Return to PopoloCrois' polygonal graphics still look pretty good.

Witch & Hero 2--The original Witch & Hero first caught my eye about three years ago due to its 8-bit-esque enemies, which look like they were pulled from an old Dragon Quest game. I was a bit shocked when I actually bought and played this FK Digital title, though, as it plays nothing like that classic series of RPGs. Instead, it's a twitchy, arcade-action game that confidently leans toward tower-defense territory. Will this soon-to-be-released sequel be more of the same or offer up something new? I have no idea, but I'm anxious to find out one way or the other.

Are there any in-the-works 3DS games that are causing you to salivate in anticipation of their impending (during 2016) release? If so, let me know about them in the comments section below.

Random musings on the other games that were and weren't mentioned during last week's Nintendo Direct broadcasts

The trio of Nintendo Direct broadcasts that aired a couple of days ago featured a bunch of wonderful looking games.

Two of them: localized versions of the 3DS iterations of Dragon Quest VII and VIII, which amazingly are being brought to both Europe and North America by Nintendo at some point in 2016.

Of course, Nintendo also ignored a bunch of 3DS and Wii U games during these latest Directs.

Speaking of which, here are a few thoughts on some of the ones that actually earned a mention as well as some of the ones I wish had been mentioned.

First, the chatter about the ones that were given a nod:

Bravely Second (3DS)

Bravely Second: End Layer--Unfortunately for North Americans like myself who are chomping at the bit to play the English version of this Bravely Default sequel, the only attention Second received in the Nintendo Direct aimed at our neck of the woods was a sentence or two. Still, among those few words was a promise that the game would hit store shelves here this coming spring, so I won't complain too loudly about that oversight. (If you call Europe home, you'll be able to get your hands on Bravely Second within the first three months of 2016.) Anyway, although I would've loved a specific release date or glimpse of the title's Western box art, I'm happy we at least were given confirmation it'll be out soon.

Final Fantasy Explorers--I've had the North American version of this 3DS-based MonHun wannabe pre-ordered for some time now, so it would've really sucked if I thought the footage included in this Direct was subpar to the point of turning me off of the game entirely. Delightfully, that wasn't the case. In fact, the gameplay showcased here made me even more interested in this title than I was earlier. Sure, it's more than a little rough around the edges, with low-poly character models and a shockingly iffy frame rate, but even then it looks like good fun to me. The question is, do I keep my pre-order in place for the standard edition, or do I cancel it so I can go for the pricey collector's edition instead?

Fire Emblem Fates (3DS)

Fire Emblem Fates--This is another 3DS title I pre-ordered a while back. Did the snazzy special edition, which features all three versions of the game (Birthright, Conquest and the digital-only Revelation) as well as an art book and a carrying pouch, prompt me to ditch that "standard" copy in favor of this $80 counterpart? Nope. Don't get me wrong, the Fire Emblem Fates SE sounds awesome, but I've only played about seven hours of Fire Emblem Awakening thus far, so I don't think I need to own three different iterations of its follow-up. Or at least I don't need to own all three right from the get-go.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD--Ah, a Wii U game. Finally! Sadly, unlike a lot of people, I don't find this one all that appealing--and I would say that even if I actually owned a Wii U system. That's not a rip on Twilight Princess, mind you; rather, it's more of a comment on how I feel about the Zelda series as a whole these days. In other words, if we're not talking about throwback games like A Link Between Worlds (which I adored), I just can't muster up much interest.

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (3DS)

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam--If you'd like, you can take some of what I just said about Twilight Princess HD (the part about not being able to muster up much interest, mainly) and use it here, too. Why? For starters, the Mario & Luigi series has never really done it for me, especially from an aesthetics standpoint. I'm feeling similarly apathetic about the Paper Mario series these days--which is a shame, as I loved its first two entries for the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. Both Super Paper Mario for Wii and Sticker Star for 3DS ended up boring me to tears, though, and none of what I've seen of Paper Jam makes me think it'll provoke a more positive reaction, so until and unless that changes, this game is getting a "hell no" from yours truly.

Pokémon Blue, Red and Yellow--It's about time, Nintendo. It's about time. Why the company decided to wait until the end of the 3DS' life to add this trio of classic RPGs to the system's Virtual Console is beyond me. Did it have something to do with Nintendo's crack team of engineers figuring out how to make it so gamers could swap monsters, which most folks surely consider to be a staple of this decades-old series? Maybe. Whatever the case may be, I'm glad I'll finally be able to try my hand at Yellow. I finished Red way back when, and later picked up a copy of Blue, too, but Yellow's always been a mystery to me. Hopefully the wait will have been worth it.